Nintendo has revealed that the familiar Pikmin protagonists will be taking a back seat in the next entry in the series, as Pikmin 4 will let players build their own main character for the first time. This custom astronaut will be sent on an adventure to save the Pikmin characters from the earlier entries in the series, who have crash landed on a dangerous planet once again.
Olimar is often treated as the face of the Pikmin franchise, even representing the series in Super Smash Bros., but he wasn’t the main character in Pikmin 3. That role fell to three separate heroes: Alph, Brittany, and Charlie, who the player switched between across the story. These three new heroes were tasked with saving Olimar, a concept that’s being reused for Pikmin 4.
Related: When is the release date for Pikmin 4? Answered
Pikmin 4 Will Feature A Character Creator Mode For The First Time
Pikmin 4 is set to launch on July 21, and Nintendo has released a brand-new trailer for the game on the official Nintendo of America YouTube channel. The new trailer doesn’t show much gameplay, but it reveals that the player will be able to build their main character from a selection of options, a first for the series.
The trailer also revealed some story details. Pikmin 4 involves Olimar crash landing on an alien world, with a rescue team dispatched to save him… which also crashes. The player character will be part of the next wave of rescuers, who must save Olimar and those originally tasked with finding him.
The trailer also confirmed that Pikmin 4 is set to hit its original release date. This means Pikmin 4 is the last first-party Nintendo announced for 2023. However, the company has had a stacked year so far, with titles like Fire Emblem Engage, Advance Wars 1+2 Re-Boot Camp, and The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, so it wouldn’t be surprising if the Switch were left with nothing but third-party titles for the rest of the year.
Related: When is the release date for Pikmin 4? Answered
The Pikmin series has never been known for its in-depth character moments, as most of the attention is put on the adorable Pikmin themselves and not the humanoid astronauts that lead them around. As such, it’s not surprising to see the latest entry in the series dropping Olimar and Alph in favor of letting the player craft their own spacefarer.
